Gov. Gibbons’ proposed budget from January is no longer balanced thanks to a continued drop in tax revenues during this recession. But that hasn’t stopped legislators from making a bad situation worse.
The governor adopted recommendations made by the independent, bi-partisan SAGE Commission regarding reductions in the overly-generous health care benefits bestowed upon government employees – paying 75 percent of their monthly health care premiums instead of 95 percent. Still pretty darned generous. Many taxpayers have NO health insurance.
But the Senate Finance Committee and the Assembly Ways and Means Committee rejected the governor’s proposal on Friday and added back into the already unbalanced budget an additional $158 million so that government workers can continue to enjoy health care benefits far superior to that of most taxpayers who fund the program.
Only Assembly Minority Leader Heidi Gansert (R-Reno) dared cast a responsible vote against this most favored of special interests. What in the world were the other Republicans on these committees thinking?
